The Pentagon let $27.7 billion in funds expire last year, preventing the military from using such dollars for new projects, according to a new government watchdog report.

The Defense Department’s Inspector General's (IG) office noted in a 33-page document released Tuesday that the Pentagon lost out on the billions of dollars in fiscal year 2018 because it let authority to use the money expire.

“If the DoD does not spend its funds within the legal timeframes, the funds expire. In FY 2018, the DoD reported $27.7 billion of expired funds, meaning that, generally, the DoD can no longer use those funds for new spending,” the report states.

The information could be used by Democrat lawmakers who have long called for Pentagon dollars to be trimmed to help pay for other domestic priorities. Democrats, who now control the House, have indicated they will seek a smaller defense budget than the $700-750 billion that the Trump administration has said it wants.

Baseline budgeting has been one of the biggest contributors to the debt- it is causing government agencies to spend more and more every year, no matter the actual need, just so they can keep the same budget every year.

The government should move to a zero-base budgeting plan and be forced to justify every single dollar spent.